For the first time in the school’s 274-year history, Princeton has named their first black valedictorian.
Nicholas Johnson is a Canadian native who majored in operations research and financial engineering. According to reports by CNN, Nicholas worked at Google as a software engineer in machine learning and focused his senior thesis on developing algorithms that would contribute to easing Canada’s obesity epidemic.
On May 31st, Johnson will address the Class of 2020 in a virtual graduation for the Ivy League school’s students, due to the coronavirus. However, an in-person graduation has been scheduled for May 2021.
This summer the Ivy League’s valedictorian for the year will be an intern as a researcher and software developer at D.E. Shaw Group, an investment and technology firm. He’ll then begin his Ph.D. in the fall for operations research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as reported by CNN.
While talking to CNN, Johnson said “being Princeton’s first Black Valedictorian holds special significance to me particularly given Princeton’s historical ties to the institution of slavery.” He then continued, “I hope that this achievement motivates and inspires younger Black students, particularly those interested in STEM fields.”
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